Posts Tagged ‘Is it necessary to own a weapon such as these?’

Just when you think you’ve heard of the most horrific act of violence, up comes another unconscionable act of the ungodly kind. Columbine, Aurora, the Colorado movie theater shooting and now to the list of unimaginable horror, the slaying of 20 innocent children in Connecticut, the latter 2 incidents, an AR-15 was used(the gun in the photo). Ironically the Connecticut massacre took place on the 14th of December 2012, almost 221 years to the day that the 2nd amendment (the rite to bear arms) was introduced on December 15, 1791. Which begs the question ‘is it necessary to own an assault weapon of any kind…anywhere?

According to Reuters, ‘the United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world’, 270 million of the world’s 875 million ‘known‘ firearms are owned by US citizens. Approximately 8 million new guns are made each year of which 4.5 million are purchased, guess where?…the USA ofcourse, and their justification is the 2nd amendment of their constitution. When does freedom of choice and expression cross the threshold into anarchy and chaos?

Well let’s examine the 2nd amendment, shall we…?

Here are some of the justifications for the 2nd amendment quoted from a Wikipedia article:

deterring tyrannical government;

repelling invasion;

suppressing insurrection;

facilitating a natural right of self-defense;

participating in law enforcement;

enabling the people to organize a militia system.

These views might have been pertinent in the 1790’s, but it has no place in modern society. Newsflash America, the British militia is not attacking. How can you have a population better armed than your police? An what does Teflon do for a police officer when they are confronted close range with an AK-47? The consequences are deadly. Well, it is easy to criticize but what would be my solution?

Gun control reform:

a complete ban on the purchase and importation of assault weapons

just like a driver’s license, the ownership of a gun is a privilege not a right, therefore any person with a criminal record, psychiatric history, conviction of any sort (gun related or not) should be precluded from owning a firearm

to the latter point, if extenuating circumstances can be determined, ownership/eligibility can be re-established

uphold ‘the castle law‘, which essentially is that ‘ a man’s home is his castle‘ and he has the right to defend it

special licenses for people to have a gun in the home, and a separate license for those who may need to carry one, such as security personnel, cops, business owners in high risk situations(e.g. a jewelry store owner, etc), or an individual registered to a gun club or shooting range.

other than security, and law enforcement individuals, the carrying of a firearm should be that the gun is empty during transport

mandatory psychological evaluations, criminal back ground check, not just a driver’s license in order to qualify

and yearly license renewal and disclosure of the firearm, failure to register it yearly will result in criminal prosecution ( the simple premise of “where is your firearm?”/ one should be able to account for it at all times.)

and one shouldn’t be able to resell a firearm, there should be a mandatory law that only registered gun retailers/resellers should be able sell firearms, therefore an individual wanting to sell his/her firearm would be compensated once their firearm had been sold.

and strict records must be kept by gun retailers/resellers so that the path of the gun can always be traced by the authorities